Some English words I have recently stumped my toe on. Which of these do you know, and expect the average native English speaker to know the meaning of? And which ones would you expect to be explained the meaning of when used in a text directed towards a non-specialized audience? Which are in common use?
Argent - something silvery or white, silvery white Caparisoned – horse draping Cephalic - 1. of or pertaining to the head. 2. situated or directed toward the head. Chaplets - *) a wreath or garland for the head. *) a string of beads. Decarnate - divested of bodily form. Stripped of flesh; divested of incarnation Defenestrations - throwing things out of a window. Actually a rather interesting word as it ties in to a specific historic incident. Discombobulated - to confuse or disconcert; upset; frustrate: The speaker was completely discombobulated by the hecklers. Faience - glazed earthenware or pottery, esp. a fine variety with highly colored designs. 1) Earthenware decorated with colorful opaque glazes 2) A moderate to strong greenish blue. Farthingale - a term applied to any of several structures used under Western European women’s clothing in the late fifteenth and sixteenth centuries to support the skirts into the desired shape. It originated in Spain. Fringes - a decorative border of thread, cord, or the like, usually hanging loosely from a raveled edge or separate strip. Gonfanon/Gonfalon - a gonfalon that hangs directly from a pole, esp. from the shaft of a lance just below the lance head. Hennin – a conical or heart-shaped hat, sometimes extremely high, with a flowing veil or piece of starched linen about the crown, worn by women in the 15th century. Isocephaly - (of a composition) having the heads of all figures on approximately the same level. Mettle - courage and fortitude: a man of mettle. Morganatically - of or pertaining to a form of marriage in which a person of high rank, as a member of the nobility, marries someone of lower station with the stipulation that neither the low-ranking spouse nor their children, if any, will have any claim to the titles or entailed property of the high-ranking partner. Ocellus - eye-spots, as on a peacock. Or - tincture, or metal, gold. Ostentation – 1.) pretentious or conspicuous show, as of wealth or importance; display intended to impress others. 2.) (archaic) the act of showing or exhibiting; display. Pycnic – Having a short, stocky physique. Suppurate - to produce or discharge pus, as a wound; maturate. Sutler - a person who followed an army or maintained a store on an army post to sell provisions to the soldiers. Tassel - a pendent ornament consisting commonly of a bunch of threads, small cords, or other strands hanging from a roundish knob or head, used on clothing, in jewelry, on curtains, etc. Tawny - of a dark yellowish or dull yellowish-brown color. Vermilion - a brilliant scarlet red.
also the two expressions: “the very pink of” (as something really tip-top) and “shrinking violet” (for a shy girl) – are those two in general use? Known? Or perhaps dated?
Ones that I would say are known and used more commonly, by many Americans, include: Defenestrate (less well-known), fringe, mettle, tassle, tawny, vermilion (again, less well-known), and “shrinking violet.” Most of the other words sound like archaic/medieval words, perhaps known by those interested in heraldry (argent/or, for instance).
I would add ostentation to Ferret Herder’s list along with the note that while no one would know what a hennin is, they would recognize it immediately and would probably call it a rapunzel hat as it is almost cliche for depictions of rapunzel or other damsel in distress princess types.
I can provide two extremes of english speakers, myself and my husband.
I read all the bloody time, extremely quickly and well, I like english and history, and have a form of photographic memory (that term isn’t precisely right, but it’s close enough for government work).
My husband is dyslexic, doesn’t read much, is into roleplaying odd historically-themed games, and is is very articulate and interested in sciences and technology.
I knew all of the words and meanings on that list except for isocephaly, and that one I was able to “translate” and get the gist (iso = same or equal, cephaly = relating to heads). I have often read “in the pink” and “shrinking violet” but don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone use them in actual speech. I personally feel that they are dated and a bit ‘prissy.’
My husband knew all the colors (even the heraldic ones), some of the general heraldry (tassles and caparisoned), cephalic, defenestration, discombobulated, mettle, and ostentation. He had never heard of either of the descriptions.
Given where I live, I would expect my average co-english speakers to know **none **of the words on that list, except perhaps ostentation and discombobulated. I don’t have a very high opinion of my fellow natives.
Those are some hard words by any measure. I always scored above the 95th percentile and sometimes way more on standardized verbal tests like the GRE and I am sure others here do as well. I have never heard of some of those.
The ones I would know without picking from multiple choices are:
Cephalic - like the medical term hydrocephalic, yes but hard.
Discombobulated - This one is long but still used in common speech.
Fringes - most people know this word . Common use.
Mettle - Fairly common in context.
Or - the common spelling is ‘ore’ but most people know what that is.
Ostentation – Hard but common enough.
Tassel - almost everyone knows this.
Vermilion - Not common knowledge but it is the name of a parish in Louisiana so I know what it means.
The rest of them are very obscure words. Where did this list come from?
I am sorry I am geeky literate enough that I already knew all the list.
I live in the ass end of nowhere, Connecticut. I doubt that many of my neighbors know more than 5 words off the list.
From a number of places, can’t remember them all.
“argent”, “or” and “vermilion” - description of heraldry.
“suppurate” - from old English herbal and botanical books.
“ocellus” - from a book on peacocks.
“caparisoned” – a book on French medieval history, I think. Or perhaps on medieval illuminations.
“cephalic”, “isocephaly” and “pycnic” – a book on Italian renaissance art.
“morganatically” – on Wikipedia’s article on Napoleon’s second wife, Marie Louise of Austria
“chaplet” – Pliny, I think. There’s another word “posy” also used.
“Gonfanon/Gonfalon”, “Fringes” and “Tassel” – a book on the French banner oriflamme, I think.
Word doesn’t know “ocellus”, “isocephaly” and “pycnic” or “morganatically” But of the list I would have thought “chaplet”, “faïence” and “ocellus” would be the ones that were in common usage.
I think you mistake “or” (a colour) for “ore” (metal bearing rock) The first couple of times I saw “or” I thought it was a bad translation, because it was an old book and at the end of a sentence was a strange place to put an “or” – until it had occurred enough times for me to look it up.
Argent - I know of this mainly from crossword puzzles, perhaps some literature.
Caparisoned – Never heard of it.
Cephalic - Might be known with someone who encountered it in a medical context.
Chaplets - I would of thought they were small chaps.
Decarnate - Recall this as the opposite of incarnate from obscure source. Unlikely I would have encountered it otherwise.
Defenestrations - Excellent word, rarely encountered. Leads to discussions about the diet of worms (which has recently gained popularity).
Discombobulated - Well known in English, I recall heavy usage in the 60’s and 70’s.
Faience - Never heard of it
Farthingale - Never heard of it.
Fringes - Well known. Fringes are common on clothing, and fringe also means the outer edge of something.
Gonfanon/Gonfalon - Never heard of it
Hennin – Never heard of it.
Isocephaly - Never heard of it.
Mettle - Well known, often mistaken for the word metal.
Morganatically - Never heard of it.
Ocellus - Seen often in scientific literature, less so elsewhere.
Or - Had not heard of this.
Ostentation – Well known, especially here in America, an ostentatious nation.
Pycnic – Never heard of it
Suppurate - Never heard of it
Sutler - Never heard of it
Tassel - Well known, especially to high school and college graduates. Tassels are a common clothing decoration.
Tawny - Well known. The color of lions, and common porn star name.
Vermilion - Well known as a color, not necessarily well known what color though.
I forgot, “the very pink of”, is from Romeo and Juliet.2.4 – pink refers to the flower which I have come to understand is more commonly known as carnation, but which in older texts is known as gillyflower.
Argent towers Caparisoned– horse draping Nope. Or should I say “nay”? Cephalic- 1. of or pertaining to the head. 2. situated or directed toward the head. I do know this one. And an acephalgic migraine is one with no actual headache. Chaplets *- *) a wreath or garland for the head. ) a string of beads. Nope. Decarnate- divested of bodily form. Stripped of flesh; divested of incarnation I haven’t seen that particular form before, but I am familiar with the root -carne- (incarnation, reincarnation, incarnated, carnivale) Defenestrations - throwing things out of a window. Actually a rather interesting word as it ties in to a specific historic incident. The historical incident- would that be the ones in Prague? Discombobulated - to confuse or disconcert; upset; frustrate: The speaker was completely discombobulated by the hecklers. Fun word for all. Faience- glazed earthenware or pottery, esp. a fine variety with highly colored designs. 1) Earthenware decorated with colorful opaque glazes 2) A moderate to strong greenish blue. Nope. Farthingale- a term applied to any of several structures used under Western European women’s clothing in the late fifteenth and sixteenth centuries to support the skirts into the desired shape. It originated in Spain. I’ve heard the word. I had no idea what it meant. Fringes - as said above, this one everyone knows. Gonfanon/Gonfalon - a gonfalon that hangs directly from a pole, esp. from the shaft of a lance just below the lance head. Nope. Hennin– a conical or heart-shaped hat, sometimes extremely high, with a flowing veil or piece of starched linen about the crown, worn by women in the 15th century. Nope. Isocephaly- (of a composition) having the heads of all figures on approximately the same level. No, but I could tell it had something to do with equal heads. Mettle - courage and fortitude: a man of mettle. I think this one is common. Correct me if I’m wrong. Morganatically- of or pertaining to a form of marriage in which a person of high rank, as a member of the nobility, marries someone of lower station with the stipulation that neither the low-ranking spouse nor their children, if any, will have any claim to the titles or entailed property of the high-ranking partner. :eek: Nope. Ocellus - eye-spots, as on a peacock.Or - tincture, or metal, gold. That would be a good one to know for the future. Ostentation– 1.) pretentious or conspicuous show, as of wealth or importance; display intended to impress others. 2.) (archaic) the act of showing or exhibiting; display. Learned this from the 8th grade Word Project. Pycnic – Having a short, stocky physique. Nope. Is it said the same as “picnic”? Suppurate - to produce or discharge pus, as a wound; maturate. yes. Sutler- a person who followed an army or maintained a store on an army post to sell provisions to the soldiers. Come to think of it, I may have come across this one in a fantasy book. At one time or another. Tassel - see fringes Tawny - I love colors… Vermilion - but I’ve always thought “vermilion” should be green. My friends all agree with me, by the way.
Dammit, Bam Boo Gut! I was so sure I’d get to be the first to post that.
Rune, it would be correct to say you were stumped by these words or that you stubbed your toe on these words. However, you weren’t stubbed, and your toe was not stumped. Unless you keep your brain in your toe.
Argent - most people would know.
Caparisoned – rarely known.
Cephalic - people with medical training would know, but not uncommon.
Chaplets - rarely known.
Decarnate - most would understand it, even if they hadn’t heard it before.
Defenestrations - commonly known as a funny, strange word.
Discombobulated - commonly known.
Faience - rarely known.
Farthingale - rarely known.
Fringes - very commonly known.
Gonfanon/Gonfalon - very rarely known.
Hennin – very rarely known.
Isocephaly - most could work out the meaning even if they hadn’t heard it before.
Mettle - commonly known.
Morganatically - rarely known.
Ocellus - rarely known.
Or - commonly known.
Ostentation – commonly known.
Pycnic – rarely known.
Suppurate - commonly known.
Sutler - rarely known.
Tassel - commonly known.
Tawny - commonly known.
Vermilion - commonly known.
“the very pink of” (as something really tip-top) - can’t recall having heard this.
“shrinking violet” (for a shy girl) – commonly known, still in general use as far as I know.
Are you reading historical novels? A lot of these words are kind of archaic. You get words like ‘farthingale’ or “sutler” in historical novels (or history). Morganistic if you are reading European history.
FWIW, I have divided your list into four groups, IMHO, as per below.
Known by your average native English speaker and in common use: Fringes, Mettle, Ostentation, Tassel, Tawny, “shrinking violet".
Know well myself (but not mentioned above): Discombobulated, Or, Suppurate, “in the very pink of”.
Know the general sense of the word if used in context, but doubtful I could define it to somebody else: Argent, Cephalic, Defenestrations.
Never heard of it, would expect an explanation if used in a text directed at a non-specialised audience: Chaplets, Decarnate, Faience, Farthingale, Gonfanon/Gonfalon, Hennin, Isocephaly, Morganatically, Ocellus, Pycnic, Sutler.
